Feeding Your Readers’ Interests

by Elizabeth Ludwig

My husband and I recently made a trip to Sugarcreek, Ohio, to visit the setting for my latest series of cozy mysteries from Guideposts. One of things I loved about the experience was sampling the authentic Amish cooking. I even found several Amish cookbooks to add to my treasure trove of books. Unfortunately, if you’ve ever used one of these cookbooks, you know that many of the recipes can be very vague—a “pinch” of this, a “smidge” of that. LOL! Apparently, the authors of these recipes assume you know what temperature to bake a pie or exactly how much of each ingredient to add. I assume it’s because many of these dishes have been passed down for generations, and the cooks in the family know exactly how something should taste.

The problem is,I don’t always know exactly how long a pie should bake, or what the finished product should look like. That’s why I’m so glad I have a loving family to experiment on. They enjoy having new dishes to sample, and as I’ve learned writing this series, so do my readers. You see, every book in the Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries includes a recipe—something from the story that can be shared with readers at the end of the book. Surprisingly, this has generated more fan mail than anything else I’ve written! Readers love to tell me when they’ve tried one of the recipes I’ve included. One sweet lady even sent me a picture.

This has proven to be such a fun way to connect with my readers, and my growing collection of Amish cookbooks will ensure that I always have plenty of recipes to draw from, including one from my latest release, A Tempting Taste of Mystery that I’m glad to be able to share with you.

Miracle Crust Buttermilk Pie

Ingredients:

·         1 1/2 cups white sugar

·         1 cup buttermilk

·         1/2 cup all-purpose baking mix

·         1/3 cup butter, melted

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         3 eggs

 

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch pie plate. Beat together white sugar, buttermilk, baking mix, melted butter or margarine, vanilla, and eggs until smooth. Pour filling into pie plate. Bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes.

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Feeding Your Readers’ Interests by Elizabeth Ludwig (Click to Tweet)

I loved about the experience was sampling the authentic Amish cooking. ~ Elizabeth Ludwig (Click to Tweet)

A  fun way to connect with my readers~ Elizabeth Ludwig (Click to Tweet)

Cheryl Cooper is honored when the town of Sugarcreek holds a pie contest fundraiser and she is invited to judge. But when contestants start dropping from the competition like flies and rumors of foul play arise, she is compelled to learn the identity of the crusty culprit. Can Cheryl expose them before circumstances turn dire, or will a contest debacle leave her with pie on her face?

Elizabeth Ludwig is an accomplished speaker and teacher, often attending conferences and seminars where she lectures on editing for fiction writers, crafting effective novel proposals, and conducting successful editor/agent interviews. Book three in her popular Edge of Freedom series, Tide and Tempest, was recently named a finalist for the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Elizabeth was also named a finalist in the 2015 Selah Awards for her novella “One Holy Night”, part of the bestselling anthology collection, Christmas Comes to Bethlehem, Maine. Her latest releases include Home Sweet Sugarcreek and A Tempting Taste of Mystery, part of the Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries series from Guideposts. Along with her husband and children, she makes her home in the great state of Texas. To learn more, visit ElizabethLudwig.com. Contact Elizabeth: HERE